Upstream & Downstream Processing Archives - Page 6 of 38 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

Repligen buys French filtration firm Polymem

Repligen Corporation has continued its M&A spree with the acquisition of hollow fiber technology firm Polymem. The deal, once complete, will see Repligen add Toulouse, France based ultra and microfiltration tech firm Polymem to its bioprocess portfolio. Polymem was established in 1997 by two engineers specializing in hollow fiber membrane manufacturing and has built itself up into a firm servicing numerous industries, including the biomanufacturing sector. “The acquisition significantly expands our hollow fiber membrane and module production capabilities and adds…

Enzymatic DNA printer will speed R&D and COVID testing, says DNA Script

by Gareth Macdonald

DNA Script has launched a benchtop nucleic acid printer it claims will accelerate molecular biology, genomic research, and even COVID-19 testing. The Paris, France firm unveiled Syntax this month, describing it as a fully integrated, automated printer that is able to synthesize 96 DNA oligonucleotides in parallel, comprised of up to 60 nucleotides in length. The technology uses enzymes to synthesize the DNA molecules which – unlike traditional phosphoramidite chemistry based approaches – accelerates and optimizes production and eliminates the…

Sepragen skids to help Serum Institute ramp up vaccine production

by BPI Staff

Sepragen has delivered two chromatography skids to the Serum Institute of India to help increase monthly production of COVID-19 vaccines from 40 million to 200 million doses. Bioprocess equipment manufacturer Sepragen Corporation recently shipped out two 125 liters/minute QuantaSep chromatography skids, with integrated inline buffer blending capabilities, to the Serum Institute, located in Pune, India. “These skids will allow the vaccine manufacturer to increase their production from 40 million doses per month to 200 million doses per month,” a Sepragen…

Cytiva looks to mechanistic modeling in GoSilico deal

by Dan Stanton

Cytiva says the acquisition of scientific software maker GoSilico will boost its position of leadership in the chromatography and process development spaces. The deal, financials of which have not been divulged, sees vendor Cytiva acquire Germany’s GoSilico, adding a portfolio of scientific software based on mechanistic modeling for use in bioprocessing functions. “In the simplest of terms, mechanistic modeling uses software to model a process and predict how something is going to respond – think weather forecasting,” Olivier Loeillot, VP…

Avantor boosts single-use production with RIM buy

by Dan Stanton

Avantor has added a manufacturing plant in Changzhou, China through the acquisition of single-use bag and system producer RIM Bio. The acquisition – financials of which have not been divulged – brings Avantor a facility in China that produces single-use systems including 2D bags, 3D bags, tank liners, bag assemblies and multi-bag manifolds used in the manufacturing of biologics, vaccines, and advanced therapies. Avantor said the addition of its first Asian single-use facility will help boost its global capabilities and capacity…

Venair doubling single-use capacity as global demand rockets

by Dan Stanton

Biopharma tubing firm Venair has broken ground on a $6 million facility in Spain to support a jump in demand triggered by COVID-19. The 2,200m2 ‘Excellence Center’ Venair Group near Barcelona, Spain will be fully operational by Q4 2022 and will double the firm’s global capacity for single-use equipment and tubing used in bioprocessing functions. “This center will focus on: Extrusion of silicone and TPE tubing, manufacturing of single-use bags, assembling of single-use kits, [and an] innovation center for the…

Robotic CAR? Cytiva and Multiply team on cell therapy automation

by Dan Stanton

Cytiva has partnered with Multiply Labs to create a fully automated robotic system intended to support commercial-scale cell therapy manufacturing. “Cytiva and Multiply Labs want to develop a robotic system that will automate the manufacturing processes for cell therapies and drastically bring down the cost to do so,” Parker Donner, head of Business Development, Cell and Gene Therapy at Cytiva told BioProcess Insider. “While these therapies have proven to be very effective, the manufacturing workflow is overly reliant on manual…

Gamma adds transfection reagents for RNA and gene therapy delivery in Mirus deal

by Dan Stanton

Gamma Biosciences has acquired a controlling stake in lipid-polymer nanocomplex (LPNC) developer Mirus Bio, bolstering its cell line development, viral vector manufacturing, and cell engineering offerings. Investment firm KKR launched Gamma Biosciences last year to operate a portfolio of life sciences tools investments and acquisitions. The latest deal has seen Gamma take a controlling stake in Madison, Wisconsin-headquartered Mirus, a supplier of transfection reagents used to support gene therapy and messenger RNA vaccine production. Financial terms have not been divulged.…

Merck: COVID-related work helped German firm grow revs in Q1

by Gareth Macdonald

COVID-19 will continue to drive growth according to Merck KGaA, which says demand from vaccine makers helped its life science business revenue grow 20.4% to € 2.1 billion in Q1. The German drug and processing tech firm unveiled its results for the first quarter this week, explaining that group sales increased 6% to € 4.6 billion ($5.6 billion) “mainly thanks to the high organic growth of the Life Science business.” Merck’s process solutions business – the part of the life sciences…

Podcast: On board the Cell Shuttle with Cellares

by Dan Stanton

Cellares Corporation’s CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus talks about the current limitations in cell therapy production and how, with $82 million in hand, its Cell Shuttle technology could resolve these. Tech firm Cellares Corporation is looking to advance development of its cell therapy manufacturing platform, the Cell Shuttle. Having raised $82 million in its latest funding round, co-founder and CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus spoke about how the Cell Shuttles’ scalable, modular, and automated nature could be a gamechanger in the burgeoning space on…